First finalist of Oxygen Ventures’ “The Big Pitch” announced

Oxygen Ventures has announced online retail marketplace BlueSky as the first of five finalists to compete for $5 million in funding in Melbourne later this month.

Oxygen Ventures Managing Director, Larry Kestelman, is excited to have the BlueSky on board for The Big Pitch, and has also announced three new judges for the June 17 event, including Xero CEO Chris Ridd, CSIRO’s Rod Bloom and company director Laura Anderson joining the panel.

“What really attracted us to BlueSky were three outstanding elements; the confidence and professionalism of founders David and Nigel, the quality and execution of their product and business model and the future opportunity for international expansion.”

“David and Nigel, although young, showed immense passion and drive and took on feedback in a manner that demonstrated that they have scope to grow into their respective roles and drive the company growth.

A prototype BlueSky app was launched in May last year and July will see the release of an updated app, which BlueSky Managing Director David Mah says will include the catalogues of every online retailer in Australia and connect consumers directly to products they are interested in purchasing.

Mah is bullish about the potential of his company: “We want to do to retail what the Apple app store did to apps,” he says.

“The business model is transactional, which allows for incremental revenue during growth and the ability for our team to work together to enhance the product even further means that we can offer more than just funding and mentoring, but vital resources and our network of connections.”

Applications to participate close this Thursday, on June 5.

Featured image: David Mah and Nigel Ang of Bluesky. Source: brw.com.au